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I went to thank him, and the moment our eyes met, I knew I would be his. It takes a special man to tame a wild thing.
How my grandmother had this madness too, and her mother before that. How the madness runs in my blood, lurking in the shadows, waiting to drag me down into its depths.
“I am Stark Therion, Alpha of the Daemos pack and one of the instructors during this year’s Bonding Trials.”
idk man.... This guy is giving broody MMC vibes... Just waiting for the downfall of Lee I guess.
“It’s Anassa,” whispers one of the men near me, his gaze as focused on the massive silver wolf as everyone else’s. “She never bonds. They say she’s been here for hundreds of years…”
Oh I wonder who she will bond........
A crown, its metal glinting, then drenched in blood.
Silver. All my dark hair has turned a luminous silver-white, the same color as Anassa.
This seems.... important...
“—still can’t believe they spared the Alpha of Daemos for this,” one woman is saying. “He’s the Sovereign Alpha’s son, too, you know.”
mmm that's odd. There's probably a reason for that then.
“For Saela’s sake, I could do anything,” I say, and my voice doesn’t shake. “Even if that means making this damned bond work, somehow winning over that bitch Anassa so that she carries me to Saela herself.”
It’s the Diren Blæd. The fabled weapon that supposedly gives him power over all direwolves, Bonded and unbonded alike.
He said he loved me. He made me promise to come back to him. The thought of returning to him, to our lives together, to the future we were going to build—it’s been one of the things getting me through these confusing, brutal days.
“Don’t you realize?” he says ferociously. “My love for you is as unwavering and steady as the winds from Mount Wolfsbane. I’d give it all up if you told me to. I’d abdicate tomorrow.”
“You think you’re above the rules, princess?” he growls out.
“The key of what you just said is between wolves. The direwolves, once mated, mate for life. Their riders do not need to be together romantically, although it makes things easier, because the mate bonds have unique properties.”
OH if wolves have mates then I need just ONE guess as to who Anassa's mate is...
Henrey stares at me blankly. “What?” I ask. “What’s a Nabber?”
Red flag. Big fat red flag that no one else knows what a nabber is. This is an inside job.
“MERYN. Come, now. Nocturn commands it!”
uhhhhhh who? Her country Nocturna?
“A woman riding a direwolf, wearing a crown made of leaping wolves?”
Why wait for the king’s natural death, when there’s someone more fit to rule the throne? “There is,” Anassa agrees, hearing my thoughts.
“The lady is spoken for,” Stark says sharply, his hand tightening on my waist. I’m what?!
See? It's so obvious.
“The Strategos direwolves have convened and chosen their next leader. Anassa. You are the new Strategos Alpha.”
you do not touch Alpha Meryn that way!” Stark’s chest is heaving.
SEE?! IT'S OBVIOUS!! So where are the red flags for Killian? Because I'm waiting...
And in case my implication is not crystal fucking clear: you touch her again and I’ll cull you myself.”
“Hurt me, then, Alpha Stark.”
Oh damn! Is it hot in here?
Stark says, “If you’re going to be reckless, at least let me keep you alive.”
“Two,” he says to the craggy-faced man standing behind it. “Alpha Stark! We weren’t expecting you,” the man says with a grimace. “I’m sorry, sir, I’ve only got one room left, and it’s… well it’s not to the usual standard that…
Ah and here we have it folks. One bed. I swear if they don't wake up tangled in one another I am going to LOSE IT
I can tell she wishes Stark weren’t traveling with a female, and for some reason, it annoys me.
Yeah bc you love him and you just dont know it yet and he loves you too... And also your wolves are mates so figure your shit out already.
Lamplight gleams on the silvery scars, making them look all the more vicious. Suddenly Stark is on me, his face thunderous, backing me into the tiny corner. “Who did this to you?” he demands ferociously,
A "WHO DID THIS TO YOU" MOMENT? Okay. 1000000% solidified that he is the MMC. It was obvious before, but now there are zero doubts.
“You did that to yourself?” he repeats tightly. “Yes,” I sneer. “So don’t worry, you don’t need to go sallying forth like the hero of Linsfall to ‘protect’ your favorite punching bag. Unless, of course, you’d like to take this opportunity to finally rid yourself of me.”
Anassa’s awareness swells through the bond. She’s amused by my discomfort with Stark.
Well she knows too then.
“But my family…” “Let me be your family now,” he says softly. Taking a step backward, he slowly lowers himself onto one knee.
Oh no. First bigggg red flag for Lee... Proposing right after she found out her mother died and is super emotional and her sister is still missing and she is enduring these trials? I think not.
“Be my queen,” Killian implores softly. “Rule at my side and help me reshape our world, Meryn. Together we’ll make the world safer for people like your mother.
“Hide the journals,” Anassa growls suddenly over the bond, her tone urgent and filled with warning. At the same time, I hear the thump of Killian’s boots in the hallway outside.
The Sturmfrost Queens were the original rulers of Nocturna, the book proclaims. A long matrilineal line of Bonded warriors with incredible powers who ruled the kingdom for centuries. The dates listed are long before King Cyril’s line took over.
“I can’t tell you anything about that,” he says in a carefully neutral tone.
Because she literally can't. Bitch they aren't intentionally hiding something from you. Catch on quicker!
And then Stark walks around the corner. I stare unblinking, struggling to understand why he’s here,
You ABSOLUTE DINGUS! We knew it from the first time we read about Stark and then were certain when we found out wolves had mates. Wake up.
A tall Siphon man who… My entire being shudders. He looks unsettlingly like both Killian and his father, with piercing blue eyes and the same sharp features.
Ope
“I’m the rightful queen of Nocturna, aren’t I?” I ask. Stark’s eyes spark, he takes a single step back, and he bows down on one knee, hand to his chest. “Welcome home, my queen.”
“The Bonded have been under a Siphon blood curse for five hundred years.” He gestures to the crown with a distractingly scarred hand. “That crown and the sword, together, control the human bonds to the direwolves.”
All of this time. My protector, not Killian’s, not the king’s. “My ancestor smuggled your ancestor out of the castle when she was a baby and hid her with a commoner human family,” he continues. “She also hid the history book you found in my quarters.
My family has waited hundreds of years for your arrival, keeping the secret alive. I’ve waited. And when the Sturmfrost royal finally makes her appearance, she’s weak and in love with the person whose family stole her birthright!”
“Do you have any idea what it felt like to watch you at the Forging Ball in the dress I picked for you—” What?! “—swirling in your lover’s arms and bowing to his traitor father?”
If I’d never become Bonded, the Sturmfrost Queens would have remained a secret. Maybe for another five hundred years.
So my question is... Why didnt Killian kill her? He had plenty of opportunity.
All the lives I’ve ever taken were just training for this moment, my queen. Make me your instrument of vengeance. Let my hands act out your every savage, depraved thought. Use me. I’m yours.” Mine. My psycho asshole. My bloodthirsty killer.
OKAY YES I AM INTO THIS
“When it was clear that you were onto my father,” he continues, “Alistair demanded to be transferred. He’s passed this way for the last five hundred years. Each new king in our line serves as his vessel.”
I am Meryn Sturmfrost, Queen of Nocturna, and I will use the twisting dark in my bones and my blood to hunt Killian Valtiere to the ends of the earth.
The Faceless Goddess Ancient deity whose true name and appearance have been lost to time.
Meryn... Is it her or her ancestor? And she's faceless because they are waiting for Meryn (or someone in her line) in order to put a face to her? Or maybe it was Maryn's ancestor and the siphons removed her face from memory
